Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter • Hacker News Board

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#141

Post by Aerroon » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 1:03 PM UTC

ghaff wrote: post #75

fooblat wrote: post #51

It is amazing to me that we still have such a distance between people on this. Some people have basically created a tv studio at home with a nice set, good lighting, nice background, quality camera, and mic. Having a video call with these people is a nice and smooth. And somehow we still have people that think sitting in a noisy, messy room with the sun at their back and using their laptop's built-in mic/speakers is…

On the one hand, I'm sympathetic that not everyone has a place to create a TV studio at home. On the other hand, there are easy ways to block out the light from a backlighting window and to add a key light.

Perhaps those people don't want to use a camera in the first place? It seems like camera usage isn't always optional. It wouldn't make sense for a person like that to put in effort to make it look nicer.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#142

Post by david38 » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 1:03 PM UTC

scrozart wrote: post #82

Mauricebranagh wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think I may have to send this link to our thursday night GM :-) his cheap headset mic keeps popping and has terrible quality. I use a chaepo Plantronics £40 for work but for my steaming I use a Focusrite claret and a separate cheap dynamic mic (plus an exciter). I do need to upgrade that mic to a sm58b or a AT 3035. I have thought about buying a focusrite scarlet and use a separate dynamic mic for work as well.

I have a similar setup, but use a Sennheiser e935. Sounds incredible. After 25 years in both live audio and recording, I would highly recommend it over the Beta 58. I might even use the e835 before the beta; certainly before the standard 58. Also, regarding the AT3035, I've recently purchased an AT2020 on a park since the price was insane (like $90 US), and it sounds great! I used it on a remote recording session as…

I’m using the ATR2100x-USB. It’s great. I can use it with USB for zoom meetings or XLR for recording. My RE320 sounds better, but in a listening test with friends, not by much. Other factors come into play.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#143

Post by tgv » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 1:04 PM UTC

tdmckinlay wrote: post #106

andy_ppp wrote: post #9

It would be interesting to hear how bad the audio actually was...

Here's how they describe it in the paper: First experiment (science conference talks from YouTube): "We selected two conference talks (in physics and engineering) from YouTube and altered their acoustic features using iMovie software. The good audio quality version of each talk was created with an audio filter called “small room,” which reduces the echo and increases the clarity of the speaker; the poor audio quality…

I must say I'm not convinced that those approaches are valid. "Large Room" introduces a lot of reverb and that can make people stop listening, instead of changing their perception of the speaker.

Of course that still means bad audio may influence the effect of your presentation, but not in the way suggested in the linked article.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#144

Post by viraptor » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 1:06 PM UTC

criddell wrote: post #115

jtbayly wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bluetooth is wrong because it is almost always low quality. You need a wired mic.

Is the audio quality recorded from a Bluetooth microphone worse than audio played through Bluetooth headphones? (ie is recording worse than playback?) If not, then that's okay because Bluetooth headphones sound fine. A wired mic isn't really an option in the environment I want to film in but I want something better than the on-camera mic because I'm occasionally pretty far away from the camera. I also don't want the…

> is recording worse than playback?

Yes / kind of. Bluetooth headphones can be in a few modes, but generally they're either "high quality playback" or "crap playback with crap input". As soon as you activate the mic, the playback quality will drop. But for the isolated playback of a recording, you'll get better quality.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#145

Post by jmenter » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 1:07 PM UTC

benkuhn wrote: post #13

It's also really easy to have high quality audio! The author recommends a "podcasting" microphone, but a $35 standalone headset mic[1] is almost as good and much easier to use. If you want to hear a comparison, I got kind of obsessed with this problem at one point and took some comparison recordings here[2]. (You need a standalone mic since most headsets, even really nice ones, have really bad mics because most heads…

Great article!

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#146

Post by hutzlibu » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 1:07 PM UTC

stevewodil wrote: post #116

hutzlibu wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, can you tell me then, of a Laptop with Touchscreen, good hardware and Linux support? I have been looking for one since ages.

Dell XPS 15 or 17? I had a Matebook X Pro and it worked really well with Ubuntu but the battery life was terrible in Linux. Maybe it's something that's been fixed or can be tweaked.

Battery life on linux laptops can be indeed improved by tweaking, I did so on various devices. But I never came close to windows battery life and I allmost bricked a brand new laptop while doing so (only save was to tear it apart). So beware of what you are doing.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#147

Post by FirstLvR » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 1:08 PM UTC

nicbou wrote: post #138

benkuhn wrote: post #13

It's also really easy to have high quality audio! The author recommends a "podcasting" microphone, but a $35 standalone headset mic[1] is almost as good and much easier to use. If you want to hear a comparison, I got kind of obsessed with this problem at one point and took some comparison recordings here[2]. (You need a standalone mic since most headsets, even really nice ones, have really bad mics because most heads…

This was an excellent writeup. There's only one thing I would add: put the camera closer to where people's faces are. It feels like you're looking directly at them, and it makes a big difference. I made a habit of looking directly into the camera now.

the camera thing is really an issue in my company, we mostly work on software development so we share our screen constantly in our meetings... no one cares on turning on the camera and this has become regular behavior

the problem is that you dont know if the other people are actually paying attention and human interactions need that feedback

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#148

Post by tnzm » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 1:09 PM UTC

stephvd wrote: post #8

What are some decently good mics that don't break the bank but do the work?

Note that studio mics recommended in this thread, like the SM57 or the C1, need to be plugged with an XLR cable into an audio interface. Focusrite, for one, makes good USB audio interfaces - but it's still an extra device to buy and then keep on your desk/carry around (and, optionally, to understand).

For conferencing, it's much more convenient to just use a USB mic. I can recommend the RØDE NT-USB for this purpose - all it needs is an available USB-A port.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#149

Post by pa9am » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 1:10 PM UTC

benkuhn wrote: post #13

It's also really easy to have high quality audio! The author recommends a "podcasting" microphone, but a $35 standalone headset mic[1] is almost as good and much easier to use. If you want to hear a comparison, I got kind of obsessed with this problem at one point and took some comparison recordings here[2]. (You need a standalone mic since most headsets, even really nice ones, have really bad mics because most heads…

The most important thing is to have the microphone close to your mouth. There is nothing more annoying than listening to echo-y voice.

The mic even have to be that expensive. I use a cheap dynamic mic from ebay with a windscreen and a mic arm and it sounds fine.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#150

Post by ghaff » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 1:12 PM UTC

dvnguyen wrote: post #119

Folks using usb mics: how do you solve the keyboard noise problem? I use a mechanical keyboard and it’s super noisy.

I type on a different computer. I use a desktop system for video conferencing (which has a mechanical keyboard) and do any typing, e.g. for note taking, on a separate laptop.